"He was eating peanut butter and he was stung by a bee simultaneously," she said. "We're not exactly sure what the trigger was, but he went into anaphylactic shock.

"His entire face swelled up, his eye swelled shut and his lips became giant. My husband sent me a picture of it, and I immediately panicked."

Bowen continued: "It was so scary. At first I actually thought it couldn't be an allergic reaction; there was some small amount of denial kicking in. He had eaten peanut butter before, and I just didn't want it to be true. I thought, 'No, no, it must be something else'."

Bowen added that she now wants to help parents recognize the signs of allergies and know what to do when their children experience a reaction.

"I think that if I recognized how serious this was, I would have learned more about it and the denial wouldn't have kicked in at all," she said. "For that reason, I want other parents to know what to look for.

"Our son's reaction to his allergy was very dramatic, but I've been over at a friend's house and she was having nuts and her child had a slight reaction that my friend ignored. There's this wave of kids who have food allergies. It's a big deal; it's a reality."